The Killer Question is classic Janice Hallett in the very best way. If you’re not familiar with her novels, they all take the form of a modern epistolary novel. The Killer Question is mainly told through WhatsApp conversation transcripts and emails. This is a murder mystery that keeps you guessing, laughing and thoroughly entertained.
Do you like to quiz?
Welcome to the crazy world of local pub quizzes. I love a pub quiz as much as the next person but also know people (my mum) who never miss a week, have a dedicated team and are obsessed with taking the crown each week. I have now leant her The Killer Question to read.
So, it’s the more obsessive side of quizzing that The Killer Question embraces. The book starts with a man pitching an idea to Netflix for a true-crime show, based upon the mysterious happenings at his aunt and uncle, Mal and Sue Eastwood’s pub, The Case is Altered.
Now closed and left to ruin, he wants the unusual story of what happened told to millions. And as he sends his correspondence to the producers, we get to read through all the messages to find out all about this deliciously juicy story of crime, deceit and murder.
Sudden death round
Mal Eastwood ran a weekly pub quiz where a small, but dedicated, group of players turned up regularly. There was some healthy rivalry, but things got tense when a new team, The Shadow Knights, turned up and started to win every week. Things take an even more sinister turn when a body is discovered in the river outside the pub and the police start digging into the cast of characters who frequent the quiz.
The Shadow Knights not only get every answer correct, they write it down perfectly. 120 answers and all exactly as if they’d copied them out of a book.
As the clues unravel, we learn what really happened to cause The Case is Altered to shut down… who would have thought there would be so much drama at a pub quiz?
Janice Hallett’s signature asides and funny moments are in The Killer Question too. There is amazing banter between Sue & Mal and the other pub landlords in the area, including when they share the one-star reviews they get, and their not-holding-back responses.
What really makes Janice Hallett’s books stand out for me is that I just love this message-exchange format. As a reader, it keeps me on my toes and is totally immersive. It makes me feel like a voyeur, privy to information that maybe I shouldn’t be seeing, and that makes the story all the more intriguing.
- Get your copy of The Killer Question here;
- Published by Viper 2025;
- 416 pages;
- My rating:
Books on the 7:47 